Review: Variations, Concertino and Beauty and the Beast

****

After years of scrappy funding, haphazard rehearsal spaces and mixed programming, the Irish National Youth Ballet has hit its stride.

The 41-member troupe, which has junior and senior divisions, here performs with the Orchestra of the Irish National Youth Ballet and two singers, and the young performers work cohesively. Conductor Cillian O’Breacháin leads an excellent 15-piece orchestra in a promising evening for this generation of classical dancers and musicians.

Choreographers Sarah Thornton, Kilian O'Callaghan and Stephen Brennan provide material that accentuates the dancers' developing technique and artistry.

There is strong dancing en pointe and solid partnering skills from the group of teens and preteens, laying the groundwork for more strenuous ballet training. The delight in how the younger dancers magically flutter their arms as butterflies in Brennan's Beauty and the Beast may well inspire young members of the audience.

Artistic director Katherine Lewis allows her corps of dancers to learn as they go. Long-time company members such as Maya Ishchuk and Saoirse Delancy help anchor O'Callaghan's technically demanding Concertino. In it, the girls, clad in bright red, turn, jump and weave between the four young men to complete the seven-part dance, which is full of demanding patterns and steps.

In Beauty and the Beast, lead dancers Jacob Hickey (the beast), Gearóid Solan (the prince) and Aoibh Ní Riain Broin (Belle) carry the plot, but the junior cast members steal the show. Their enthusiasm as the birds, butterflies and roses serves as a reminder of why so many young children are drawn to dance: ballet can be magical with the right combination of teaching and performance.

With this particular company, minor shortcomings in pointe technique or choreographic clarity are overshadowed by the performers’ obvious pleasure. It cements Irish National Youth Ballet Ireland’s standing as one of the most solid ballet training grounds in the country.